10/27/2025 Minutes
A write up of Southwest Durham NC Death Cafe
By Yvonne123
Thanks for another thoughtful and sincere conversation, everyone who joined this Monday!
We touched on so much! Topics included:
An increase in lynchings of Black men recently and how little media attention it has received
Methods by which governments have executed citizens (deemed “criminals”) and the irony that a State can declare ending one’s life illegal but then turn around and execute a person.
How we react to dead bodies:
- Some folks couldn’t handle bloody bodies but were ok without visible blood;
- Some folks didn’t want to see any muscle/flesh, but were ok with skeletons;
- The ethics of having bodies (in any form) on display for entertainment and/or education, like in museums.
How our sense of “obligations” to others (friends, family, through any relationship) can feel both like a sense of purpose and privilege but also like a burden.
A member shared that what we refer to as living rooms used to be where we displayed our dead and how removed we have become from death and dying in the modern world.
Some resources mentioned:
Books:
5 Days at Memorial – Pulitzer prize winning book about 5 days at Memorial Hospital in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina
When My Time Comes – by Diane Rehm about her husband’s journey for/through medical aid in dying
Bog Queen (fiction) about a woman investigating the life and death of a woman whose body was discovered preserved in a bog
The Faithful Executioner – “The extraordinary story of a renaissance-era executioner and his world, based on a rare and overlooked journal.”
Information/websites:
On Medical Aid in Dying (MAID) in Colorado: https://5280.com/medical-aid-in-dying
Matt Zemon (speaker) resources on psychedelics: https://linktr.ee/mattzemon
Event: 8th Annual Death Faire Sunday, Nov 2nd in Pittsboro https://www.theplantnc.com/deathfaire
Comments
Honest Conversations About Suicide to the Triangle
I’m reaching out to let you know about an event in Raleigh this Sunday.
For the past five years, the Suicide Noted podcast has been having raw, unfiltered conversations with suicide attempt survivors from around the world — trying to help people feel a little less shitty and a little less alone — one talk at a time.
Now we’re taking those conversations on the road. This national tour will bring attempt survivors to the stage to share their lived experiences in front of live audiences.
We’d love for you to join us (it's free) and would be grateful if you could share this event with your community through your email list or other channels.
Posted by Sean Wellington